Sports ophthalmic society launched

New organization will help ophthalmologists handle challenging situations that arise when treating athletes

Rolando Toyos, M.D., at bat during
an exhibition Memphis Redbirds
game.
Source: SOSA

A LASIK patient, professional
baseball player Dee Haynes (left),
and Dr. Toyos.
Source: SOSA

When Rolando Toyos, M.D., Toyos Clinic, Memphis, signed on as ophthalmologist to the Memphis Grizzlies pro basketball team and the Memphis Redbirds AAA baseball team, there were no guidelines covering unique eye care situations that arose in athletes.
Others shared his concern, facing a variety of questions when treating professional and collegiate athletes, such as: How quickly can a player return to play after an eye injury? How does a physician cope with pressure from the agent, coach, or team when a patient is not ready to return to play? What if a team doctor detects a vision problem in a player in contract negotiations?
Recognizing the need for ophthalmic standards of care for athletes and guidance to handle potential liability issues, Dr. Toyos and several other ophthalmologists and professionals recently established the Sports Ophthalmic Society of the Americas, or SOSA. Drawing on the expertise of ophthalmologists, optometrists, health care attorneys, coaches, trainers, athletes, and marketing executives, this non-profit organization will address such issues and give a unified voice to professionals who care for athletes.
“There’s no uniform exam out there for these players when they come in for their yearly physical and eye exam,” said Dr. Toyos, SOSA president. Consequently, he found a cataract in a player during an eye exam even though the athlete had been having eye exams for eight years. No one had ever mentioned the condition — a serious omission for the player and his former doctor. The society hopes to offer practical information to help others avoid such situations.
It is also hoped that the society will help ophthalmologists in their every day practices.
“SOSA is increasingly important because of not only professional sports, but recreational sports becoming so pervasive in our culture and individuals being involved in sports at all levels,” said Terrence P. O’Brien M.D., professor of ophthalmology, Charlotte Breyer Rodgers Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology, and director of the Refractive Surgery Service, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, who was the Baltimore Orioles’ ophthalmologist until recently.

Establishing standards

An initial goal is to establish and disseminate standards for eye exams for athletes.
The Duke University Men’s Basketball Team did not have a vision screening program when Terry Kim, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology, Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Duke University Eye Center, Durham, N.C., began as its consultant ophthalmologist.
“I’m in my sixth consecutive year of providing a vision screening exam for the Duke basketball players, but to my surprise, there was no formal vision screening program before I arrived,” said Dr. Kim, who is a SOSA board member. “Now we check vision, intraocular pressure, and perform a slitlamp and fundus examination on site.” During examinations they have identified glaucoma suspects as well as players with incorrect prescriptions that could have affected their performance.
“So these are the kinds of issues that SOSA could address in terms of setting some standards in establishing vision screening programs for all collegiate and professional athletes. This would certainly improve the overall eye care given to these individuals, who often have higher than normal demands from their vision performance,” Dr. Kim said.
In addition, refractive surgery guidelines may be introduced.
“Perhaps SOSA could also set some standards on whether collegiate or professional athletes should get LASIK versus surface ablation based on the potential traumatic nature of their sport,” Dr. Kim said.
SOSA will raise awareness of the potential for serious eye injuries in sports and the need for eye safety. “We can try to help educate the trainers and the people who are involved in coaching players and train them as to what they need to do to prevent any of these injuries,” said Dr. O’Brien, a SOSA board member.
The society will advance original research on sports eye care and the role of vision in enhancing athletic performance, which will be presented at annual meetings and appear on the SOSA Web site (www.sosas.org).
In addition, Dr. Toyos hopes SOSA sports trainers will write articles to help all ophthalmologists stay fit and healthy.
“We have these trainers that are world class that deal with world-class athletes from all over the world,” Dr. Toyos said. “They’ve got a lot of information that they can impart to us as doctors to make our lives healthier and prolong our careers as surgeons.”

Targeting legal concerns, looking ahead

SOSA will answer liability issues, supporting ophthalmologists who assume the additional liability of working with sports teams.
“So if something does occur with the athlete, that they know they have an organization that will back them in their decision-making process,” Dr. Toyos said. It will also offer guidance for confidentiality matters.
In addition, SOSA may help ophthalmologists respond to ethical predicaments. One example would be when highly paid professional athletes expect to receive a steep fee, rather than paying, for refractive surgery, offering physicians the right to use their name for marketing purposes.
SOSA organizers are painstakingly building their organization.
“What we want to do is have a long-lasting organization that 30 years from now, 40 years from now is still going on and gaining membership,” Dr. Toyos said.
The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine serves as their model. “Their organization has grown by leaps and bounds because now you have orthopedic surgeons that are dealing with athletes at the Little League level, at the high school level, and that’s what we want to grow into in the future,” Dr. Toyos said.
“Hopefully SOSA will prove to be informational and beneficial for every ophthalmologist, whether they are a consulting ophthalmologist for a team or whether they happen to have an athlete who comes in for an eye exam or a traumatic eye injury,” Dr. Kim said.
Ophthalmologists, optometrists, health care attorneys, trainers, and other professionals who work with athletic teams or are interested in learning more are invited to register with SOSA through its Web site (www.sosas.org) or by calling 901-683-7255. Membership is $150 per year.

Contact Information
Kim: 919-681-3568, kim00006@mc.duke.edu
O’Brien: 561-515-1544, TOBrien@med.miami.edu
Toyos: 731-660-3937, rostar80@aol.com